Meeting family, shots, and surgery!

It's been some kind of week! Actually, the past two weeks have been quite intense. Last week in a good (no, great!) way. O got to meet his aunties, Rachie and Jackie. (Oh, and Jeff and Todd, too.) We had so much fun while they were here and everyone was so helpful! I didn't even have to ask...Rachel and Jack just jumped right in and did it all; from feeding, diaper changes, bathing, holding, calming, etc. They were great! And they'll both make great mommies one day, I just know it! Rachel, perhaps, sooner than later...because she and Todd got engaged while they were here! (Finally!) Since it's their story, I'll let them share it, but what a fantastic surprise!!! Congratulations, you two!

This week, on the other hand, has been a whirlwind of a different sort. Owen had his 2-month check-up on Wednesday, at which time, he received his first round of vaccinations. He was a real trooper after the three needle sticks and just slept for the first few hours. But that evening, the poor little guy was inconsolable...screaming off and on for several hours. Fortunately, he was back to his happy, smiley self the very next morning.

However, during his appointment, the doctor identified a hernia (turned out to be two, actually), so we visited with a pediatric surgeon on Thursday. The only way to treat this type of hernia (bilateral inguinal hernia) is through surgery (gasp!) and the doc recommended doing it sooner than later because of a risk of serious complications. So, we ended up having the surgery scheduled for the very next morning (today). Although the doctor assured us that this was a relatively common and routine surgery, we were pretty freaked. We were mostly concerned with the risks associated with anesthesia in young babies. But, long story short - all is well that ends well. We arrived at the hospital at 6:30 this morning and were discharged by 5:00 p.m. O is recovering well and, other than being a bit fussy this evening, he is actually doing quite well.

Mommy and Daddy had a few worried moments (to say the least!), but discovered just how loved this little boy is by all the support, kind words, well wishes, and prayers of friends and family throughout the day. We are so blessed!!!

And now, the latest photos...

Thought this was a cute expression on his face.

Brothers. (Someday they'll be best buds, I'm just sure of it.)

Getting pretty good at those smiles!

If this is not the cutest darn picture you've ever seen, there must be something wrong with you! : )

The latest...

Not much new to report this week, and I didn't take very many pictures either, but here are couple...

Extreme close-up shot of O while I was wearing him in the Baby Bjorn.

A lazy Sunday morning with my two boys.

Play tunnel

Thanks Uncle Mage for the play tunnel! We love it! (And little did you know that it had a hint of Cyclone in it!) : D

Owen's song

Ok, this post is mostly for Grandma and Grandpa V, who got Owen his own personalized song of nursery rhymes, which he LOVES! He was being very fussy this evening, but then we put on this CD and danced around with him and, voila! Calm!

Thanks G'ma & G'pa V!!! (Be sure to turn your volume up so you can hear the words.)

6 weeks

I love the weekend. I especially love weekend mornings. Having Ryan around to help out is the absolute BEST! And the peaceful quiet of the morning (when Owen is typically quite happy and content) is so welcomed!

This past week, Owen endured a painful right of passage...he was circumcised. Ryan was present for the actual procedure, while I opted to sit that one out. Although I'm sure it was not much fun at the time, he is doing quite well now (Owen, that is; although I'm sure Ryan is fine, too!) It was performed during his 1-month check-up, so we also got all his updated stats: 9 pounds, 5 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long (as of Monday).

I'm pretty sure we also witnessed O's first social smile this week, although it was directed at the wall instead of at one of us. Whatever...we'll take it! We've gotten a few others since then, but never while looking directly at us. As long as he's showing signs of happiness, I don't really care. I was beginning to think that this child was simply miserable, but I guess I just needed to be a little more patient.

Overall, I'm finally starting to see what everyone meant when they said that things would get better and better every day. It does seem like he is a little bit more happy, a little bit more content, and a little bit more fun every day. Sometimes we still have bad days (or just bad moments), but we've certainly come a long way in six weeks.

Here are a few photos from this past week. He's just so unbelievably cute, I can hardly stand it sometimes!

Just chillin' in my doggy outfit. 'Sup?

Owen in the Moby wrap - his own personal little cocoon.

Practicing "tummy time" with a little help from the Boppy pillow.

Bath time! (O's favorite time of the day.)

A good day

Today has been a pretty good day. It is about 2:30 now and so far, I've managed to get a shower (yeah!), lunch, dusted, swept my kitchen/living room floor, and vacuumed the downstairs floor and couch. Owen has been napping quite a bit (perhaps more than he should), but it allows me to get some things done, which feels really good!

He's due for his afternoon meal in just a few minutes, so I'll keep this brief, but I just wanted to document that there are good days mixed in there with the extremely overwhelming ones! : )

Rock on! (I've even got acne like a rebellious teenager.)

BOTH of my aunts love me!

This outfit is actually for a 6-9-month-old, but daddy wanted me to try it on anyway. Don't I look silly?

One month down

Wow, what a difference a month makes! The past four weeks have felt like a chaotic, confusing, emotionally-draining, out-of-control haze. I really hate to describe the first month of our son's life like that, but it is the truth. Looking back on it, I see clearly that I had NO idea what I was doing...and it showed! But the good news (no, make that great news!) is that it now feels like we've got things a bit more under control. I do not mean to say that we've got it all figured out and know exactly what we're doing. But things just feel a whole lot calmer and the future seems much clearer now. I think Owen and I are starting to figure each other out a bit more and we're finally able to begin establishing a real routine (though he still gets final say on how things are going to go), rather than the "survival" mode we've been working under.

Owen is continuing to gain weight - I estimate that he is somewhere in the 8 pound range by now. We are increasing the amount of milk we give him almost every day it seems; he's just so hungry! Breast feeding (in terms of nursing) never did pan out. I am still doing my best to express milk through the breast pump as much as possible so that he can reap the benefits of breast milk. But he does end up getting about 1-2 bottles of formula a day also because I just can't produce quite enough to keep up with him. We'll try to continue with this for a while and reassess the situation in another few weeks.

Emotionally, I am doing MUCH better these days. I will not sugar coat it - I was down, down, down for a few weeks there. And I'm sure I still have some sad moments and days ahead (all part of the postpartum hormones), but as I mentioned above, the future finally seems so much brighter. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel. And the past few nights have been especially encouraging; Owen has gone down after each nighttime feeding without needing to be held and rocked for an hour (yes, that's what we were doing prior to this week!), and he's started going about four hours between feedings throughout the night more consistently (an improvement from the 2 1/2 to 3 hours before).

Here are some recent photos:

Tomorrow is Owen's 1 month birthday! We made it through the "newborn" stage!!! HOORAY!